It was the beginning of Mankind's era of Industrial Revolution. The invention of the steam engine brought new wonders to the world. Locomotives chased long, gleaming rails over vast expanses of land, carrying people and wares tirelessly across continents. Ships of steam chugged over lakes, winding rivers and even across seas, connecting nations, cities, and families as never before.

And a piece of Heaven's foundations fell, shaking the world. The skies burned... Storms of fire swept over the lands... A shroud of darkness blotted out the sun, and then came the Long Winter. In the Dark, death and famine prevailed... Green turned to brown and black, and the survivors of wondered if the sun would ever shine again, or would the sky be an eternal, dismal gray.

But, in time the sun did return, the blue skies did return, and the world was reborn from the ashes. And the very cause of Man's - the Earth's - misery was discovered. In the heart of a massive, ragged hole in the world glowed a mountainous rock from Space... radiating, pulsing of orange light, hot to the touch, hard as a diamond. The cause of the world's grief, however, brought with it a wonder as well. When the rains fell, the waters burst into steam on touch... And Man found a gift in the heart of the world's destruction...

People found a way to mine the massive meteor, slowly removing small portions, and constructing great machines powered by the strange element's means of producing steam. And the Age of Steam was reborn, fueled by the scrapings from the massive, glowing rock. New machines provided new wonders, and crafts of land, sea, and air... and thus was that, with the dawning of a new century, the Age of Steampunk was born, and blossomed.

CURRENT SETTING & STORYLINE:

The time frame of the storyline is roughly the 1900s, in the area of the 1920s-early 1930s. Thus, the technology would best be reflected as Steampunk-version of anything from the late 1800s to the mid-1930s. Of course, in place of technology formed of the petroleum industry, is the development of anything steam-powered. After all, with the Long Winter and the need for Mankind to rebuild after what is essentially something akin to nuclear winter, the discovery of an element that is in relative abundance and able to create high levels of steam in small quantities would intrigue scientists and engineers deeply enough to delay, possibly even completely halt, the pursuits of petroleum fuels.

The city could be a city in partial ruin from the time of the Long Winter, and the styles of the buildings and such would be heavily influenced by the Victorian Era. As is, the new/rebuilt city is formed around a massive steam power plant that maintains vast boilers and equipment for the production of electricity and also extreme pressure steam pipes to areas somewhat closer to the plant as sources of heat, steam and hot water for businesses and residences.

Vehicles and equipment are powered by a boiler system that takes a mere grain of the meteor for smaller engines, and water tanks that provide the steam on contact with the meteor fragment in question.

The story begins with the main character being a metalsmith's apprentice who lives in the attic of the smith-shop of his employer/master. He awakes late in the morning, far later than "Master" would have him... to find that no one is about... that there are no people in his neighborhood. The plot is for the main character to discover what has become of the people.

The fact of the matter is that the main character had been out too late the night before, and drinking/carousing heavily, and slept in well past noon, completely oblivious to the world. During that time, all people that were easily found were rounded up by an alien invasion, the aliens having come to Earth in pursuit of the element of the and the meteor that fuels Man's Steampunk Revolution.

A few scattered humans, holed up like the main character was - in attics, sewers, or other difficult-to-find areas, can be found. But, by and large, the aliens took almost everyone, and it is for the remaining few to determine what happened, and ultimately how to put an end to the aliens' occupation, and free the humans that were captured.

DESIGN GUIDELINES:

I'm a closed-minded American, designing things in the American measurements... So, I have been working with the idea that: - 10pts = 1 foot, and the average height of a human being 60pts - 60pts = the height of an average human (6 ft, or a bit shy of 2 meters/metres)

The style I'm aiming for is roughly realistic in proportioning, though I think I will have some slight exaggerations in the making of characters. The heads, hands and feet may be somewhat pronounced and enlarged as is appropriate to create more interesting style and such. As I get the main character in order soon, I hope it shows well enough what I have in mind.

Anim8or Materials: I am attaching a version of Kubajz (sp?) Material DB because I like the metals, and have been working from that file to create my own materials as well. My dirigible (incomplete) is also attached so that some of my own materials are included. I'd encourage people to likewise use the attached file as the basis for materials to provide some continuity to things.

NOW WHAT:

Well, anyone with any ideas on how to further develop what is shown above, please do! I will be glad to consider and implement any contributions to the best of my closed-minded, egotistical brain's ability ... Just speak up, and I'll try and figure out the best way to make any new ideas work out, so long as it sticks to the general theme described above.

PROPER CREDIT:

It's only appropriate that credit be given where credit is due, therefore I will hold rights to the initial storyline and anything that I create. Likewise, anyone who contributes to the project will maintain ownership of their respective ideas and contributions.

On the outside chance that this project does move on to any wondrous chances of fame, glory, and endless riches, it should only be on the conditions that all contributors can agree to. No one should profit from this project except in the sense that all can agree upon how they should share in the benefits.

That being said, lets forget all that for now, and just have some fun!

Thanks, old friend... Here, I have reworked the gondola... decided not to do the windshield thing... Building the boiler as can be seen, will have more details - pipes, gauges, etc... will do some detailed hooks and such for the suspension ropes... Then deciding still whether to have a ship-s wheel control, or levers, etc... Need a seat for the pilot of course, and propeller, and still a few fin/flap things for rudder/steering... etc. etc.

Actually, this project might be a lot more fun to work on as a group thing... has more leeway for creativity... Soooo... Maybe I ought to put together the the storyline and such, so there's some idea of the general way of things? It could definitely be a fun group project of sorts, sure!